A/N: I must warn you. This will be a very graphic chapter. This chapter will somewhat reference the Holocaust. I do not want to offend anyone, so I added this warning. It will not be gas chambers or cutting throats, but it will resemble the Holocaust in some way.
Joan took a step back from Adeline. "Death? What do you mean by death?"
Adeline stepped towards her and brought her into a comforting hug. "Joan, it's going to be fine…as long as you do everything they say."
Joan backed up again. "But what do you mean by death?" She searched Adeline's face for any implications about what 'death' might mean.
Adeline frowned. "Joan…" She reached out for her again, but Joan moved out of her reach.
"Tell me." Joan demanded.
Adeline sighed in defeat. "We're going to be judged…If they like us, we become part of the auction. If they hate us…well, I think you can infer what happens then."
Joan's eyes went wide with terror. "No…no, I need to get out of here." She began pushing her way through the crowd and to the exit. Adeline tried to pull her back, but Joan ripped herself away from her grasp. "I can't breathe, I can't breathe." She began to sprint for the seemingly unguarded exit.
A whistle made her freeze.
Joan turned and became aware of the crowd of women being corralled onto a stage in the middle of the floor. She scanned the stage and observed a table with three chairs lined up behind it. Joan deduced that the judges were the ones sitting there. The chairs were occupied by a large man who looked to be about thirty, a serious-looking woman who had clearly seen better days, and a familiar face.
The man who had given her a black eye and completely broke her down.
The man Mariah had identified as Jack.
…
"So, is Phillip going to meet us there or…?" Captain Gregson looked over at Sherlock who was staring straight ahead as if the road were the most interesting thing in the world.
Sherlock replied without looking away from the road. "I dismissed him back at the Radisson. He left with Detective Bell, headed for the precinct. Phillip is going to fill out a formal, written police report on the whole incident with Mariah and everything he heard about Joan. Besides, he isn't needed at this time."
Mariah was snuggled up next to the consultant, her head resting on his shoulder. She had had a long day and the hour and a half taxi ride was the perfect opportunity to catch up on sleep.
Sherlock looked down at Mariah and sighed. Even though they had saved a young girl from the sex-slave trade, he couldn't help but wish that Mariah was Joan. He looked back at the road and began to think. Sherlock was so focused on watching the road, the fast pace of the cars passing them and the low hum of the motors drowned out the dreadful thoughts that clouded his mind. Joan could be extremely injured for all he knew…The man they arrested had mentioned that a man by the name of Jack had hit her…When he found this 'Jack', the bastard would be in for a world of pain. Sherlock had been thinking of ways to punish the man who kidnapped his partner…punishments that were painful both physically and mentally.
Sherlock shook his head to clear the revenge-seeking thoughts from his mind. Joan would not want him thinking this way…especially after what had happened with Moran. Sherlock had promised her that he would never go on an anger rampage again, but it was so hard to think that the men wouldn't be put through what Joan went through. They would never experience the emotional toll that Joan went through. Sure, they'd be put in jail, but that would be no comparison to the suffering Joan must be enduring at this very moment.
Captain Gregson shifted in his seat and glanced at the consulting detective. Sherlock seemed to be in a sort of dream-like state. Captain Gregson patted his friend's shoulder and when the consultant met his gaze, Gregson gave an empathetic smile. "She'll be fine, Sherlock. Joan is strong, she'll be fine."
Sherlock nodded and tried to believe it himself. For some reason, he couldn't. Joan could be killed at any moment and Sherlock would be helpless in the matter. They weren't even sure if Joan was in the place they were headed…I mean, they were only following a tip from an associate. It could be a ploy or they could be too late. Whichever possibility was true, Sherlock didn't want to think about it.
"We're here." The taxi driver broke the heavy silence as he slowed the taxi and parked beside the curb. "That'll be one hundred and fifty dollars."
"No NYPD discount?" Sherlock asked, half-joking half-serious.
"Fine, one hundred and forty-nine dollars." The taxi driver spit out the window.
Sherlock rolled his eyes. "Fine." He forked over the cash and began to walk towards the ominous building. Mariah followed behind Gregson.
Captain Gregson ran after him and nearly tackled Sherlock to the ground.
Sherlock stopped and turned to face the older man. "What are you doing?"
"Look." Captain Gregson pointed to the roof of the building.
Sherlock followed with his eyes and realized why Gregson had tackled him. "Guards." Sherlock pulled Mariah towards him and out the light from the street lamp.
Twelve armed guards were pacing the roof searching for intruders. They didn't notice the two associates of the NYPD and the young woman accompanying them as they distanced themselves from any sort of light sources and hid behind a phone booth.
"I know this isn't what you want to hear Sherlock, but I think we're going to have to wait and come up with a better plan other than a frontal assault." Captain Gregson lowered his voice to a tone barely louder than a whisper. He didn't want to risk being heard by anyone who might be lurking by the entrance to the building.
Sherlock nodded, but forgot that it was too dark to see, so he replied, "I completely agree, Captain. We should find shelter for the night and return first thing tomorrow morning."
Captain Gregson nodded. "I can use the NYPD's credit card for the room, but I get the bed. You're sleeping on the couch. Mariah, you can have the other bed."
"Why do I get the couch?" Sherlock asked, disappointed.
"Because I have a bad back and Mariah probably hasn't slept in a bed in a long time…plus you're probably going to be up the whole night pacing anyways."
Sherlock smiled. "True, true."
Captain Gregson, Sherlock, and Mariah ducked behind another building and began scouring the area for a nearby motel.
…
Joan forgot about the exit behind her for a moment and when she finally remembered that she was supposed to be escaping, it was too late. She turned and smacked into two men. They grabbed her under her arms and half-dragged her to the stage where the women were stepping up on scales and being placed into two separate groups. The lifted her up the stairs and pushed her towards a scale. After some trouble making her stand still, they finally got her weight. She weighed 121lbs. They led her to the second group, consisting of mostly lean and athletic women. She scanned the faces and noticed someone missing. Adeline.
Joan looked over at the other group and spotted her frantically searching for Joan. Joan waved her arms at Adeline and Adeline got a nervous look on her face. Joan knew that something bad was going to be happening to one of the groups. She didn't know how she knew, but she just knew; she could feel it in her gut.
"Alright! Ladies, ladies!" The lady judge stood and clapped her hands. When she had everyone's attention, she continued, "I need you girls," she motioned towards Adeline's group, "to follow Orlando that way!"
The group started moving off towards a man waiting by a door and soon, every last girl that was part of the second group had disappeared behind the wall. The man named Orlando slammed the door shut and Joan winced. She did not know whether they were safe or if she was going to die.
"Congrats ladies! You are the lucky few who have made it past the first phase." The lady beamed.
Joan felt her panic rise and the first shot rang out. All the girls jumped and began whimpering.
Another shot.
Joan winced as another shot rang out…and then another…and another…and another. Joan felt tears well up in her eyes as realization set in. Adeline was going to be shot and killed. Just another person who was going to be savagely ripped away from her. Joan couldn't help herself, the sobs began and she started to shake.
The lady didn't seem fazed at all by the gunshots. "Who is that sobbing?"
Women parted so that the older lady could see who was crying.
The lady slowly made her way towards Joan and stopped in front of her. "Why are you crying?" She asked with a frown.
Joan didn't answer. She couldn't. Her sobbing was uncontrollable now and she knew she wouldn't be able to stop. All the feelings she had been feeling inside and covering up were now rising to the surface all at once.
"Stop crying." The woman glared at Joan. When Joan didn't stop, the woman struck her. "Stop."
Joan fell to the ground and she sobbed even more. "I….can't….stop…." She choked out between sobs.
The lady knelt down and screamed into her ear. "Get up! Stop sobbing!"
Joan followed directions, but she still couldn't stop crying.
The woman circled Joan and when she made her way back around to Joan's front, she grabbed Joan's throat. "Do you want to die?" She growled.
Joan shook her head. "No."
"Then stop crying!" The woman squeezed her throat.
Joan began to choke and she struggled to breathe. Joan did her best and focused on stopping the sobs. Joan's tears dried up and she closed her eyes. After awhile, the sobbing ceased.
The woman released her grasp on Joan's throat and Joan coughed as she got her breathing back.
"Good. Now, back to business." The woman separated herself from the group of girls and stood in front of them. "Line up!"
The girls lined up in a horizontal line and stood at attention.
Jack, the lady, and the other man made their way over to the first woman in line.
They began going through the line and pointing to girls, telling them to go to the opposite side of the stage. When they got to Joan, Jack glared at her and fought for her to be moved to the other side. Thankfully, the woman and the other man overruled his decision and Joan was safe.
After they had made their way through the line, they called Orlando back into the room. Orlando came back with a pistol gripped in his hand. He crossed the stage and the judges helped him direct the girls to the open door.
Joan heard one of the girls scream as they realized they were about to die. The girl threw herself at Orlando's feet and began praying for her life in a foreign language. The girl pleaded and pleaded until the man kicked her. She screamed in pain and tried to crawl away.
Orlando raised his gun and shot one bullet into the back of the young girl's skull.
Joan and the other women screamed in horror as the young woman stopped moving and her head began to gush blood.
Orlando took her by the ankles and threw her over the edge of the stage. He then proceeded to leave the room with the seven girls that had been weeded out.
Joan didn't want to know what it felt like to walk to your death. It was too horrible to think about.
"Thank you, ladies! That'll be all. Look around and congratulate yourselves because you are all going to be sold tomorrow!" The lady grinned like it was the most normal thing to say.
Joan shivered as she heard the last group of girls being shot in the other room. Thank God Mariah wasn't here. Hopefully she was safer somewhere else.
Joan looked around at the other girls and counted them. Only twenty nine of the fifty girls were standing alive. She scanned the tear stained faces of the girls and promised herself something as they were guided towards metal cages that were meant for dogs.
She was going to get out of this…alive.
And she was going to make sure everyone else did too.
Thank you for reading. I know this chapter was a hard one to read. I, myself, was on the verge of tears while writing this. I cannot imagine what it would feel like to never know if you were going to die at any second. When I read interviews from women who had been through this in order to write this chapter, I really didn't know how bad it was. I really cannot think about what it must've been like in concentration camps or in the sex-slave trade. I'm thankful that the Holocaust was stopped and I hope that the sex-slave trade will stop too.
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Thanks for reading. ONLY TWO OR THREE MORE CHAPTERS!
